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2023 Rank	Company	Category	2023 U.S. SALES MILLIONS	2023 AUV THOUSANDS	2023 Franchisedlicensed Units	2023 Company Units	2023 Total Units	Total Change In Units From 2022
1	McDonald's	Burger	53,135	4,001	12,772	685	13,457	13
2	Starbucks*	Snack	28,700	1,820	6,701	9,645	16,346	473
3	Chick-fil-A*	Chicken	21,586	7,450	2,494	58	2,552	141
4	Taco Bell	Global	15,000	2,100	6,922	483	7,405	207
5	Wendy's	Burger	12,285	2,060	5,627	403	6,030	36
6	Dunkin'	Snack	11,918	1,300	9,548	32	9,580	210
7	Burger King	Burger	10,957	1,642	6,640	138	6,778	-264
8	Subway*	Sandwich	9,925	493	20,133	0	20,133	-443
9	Chipotle	Global	9,872	3,018	0	3,437	3,437	271
10	Domino's	Pizza	9,026	1,317	6,566	288	6,854	168
11	Panera Bread*	Sandwich	7,157	3,300	1,193	976	2,169	48
12	Panda Express	Global	5,885	2,551	172	2,248	2,420	62
13	Pizza Hut	Pizza	5,600	1,015	6,586	7	6,593	32
14	Sonic Drive-In	Burger	5,534	1,600	3,195	326	3,521	-25
15	Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen	Chicken	5,511	1,897	3,035	41	3,076	130
16	KFC	Chicken	5,200	1,386	3,745	46	3,791	-127
17	Dairy Queen	Burger	4,968	1,168	4,252	2	4,254	-53
18	Arby's	Sandwich	4,617	1,400	2,316	1,097	3,413	-2
19	Jack in the Box	Burger	4,355	2,032	2,043	142	2,185	5
20	Papa Johns*	Pizza	3,846	1,231	2,689	531	3,220	40
21	Whataburger	Burger	3,769	3,962	171	826	997	72
22	Raising Cane's	Chicken	3,758	5,690	24	703	727	81
23	Wingstop	Chicken	3,482	1,827	1,877	49	1,926	205
24	Little Caesars*	Pizza	3,365	798	3,642	575	4,217	44
25	Jersey Mike's	Sandwich	3,342	1,300	2,665	19	2,684	287
26	Culver's	Burger	3,000	3,487	937	7	944	52
27	Five Guys**	Burger	2,626	1,811	890	594	1,484	67
28	Jimmy John's	Sandwich	2,551	936	2,604	40	2,644	7
29	Zaxby's	Chicken	2,520	2,720	797	145	942	20
30	Hardee's*	Burger	1,981	1,160	1,512	195	1,707	-45
31	Bojangles	Chicken	1,781	2,269	528	285	813	25
32	Carl's Jr.*	Burger	1,546	1,450	1,018	48	1,066	-2
33	Dutch Bros	Snack	1,444	1,973	289	542	831	160
34	Tropical Smoothie Cafe	Snack	1,253	980	1,371	1	1,372	174
35	In-N-Out Burger*	Burger	1,246	3,130	0	398	398	19
36	Shake Shack*	Burger	1,199	3,900	39	295	334	47
37	QDOBA*	Global	1,154	1,540	587	164	751	21
38	Firehouse Subs	Sandwich	1,138	963	1,170	39	1,209	22
39	El Pollo Loco	Chicken	1,050	2,200	172	323	495	5
40	Marco's Pizza	Pizza	1,041	943	1,101	43	1,144	77
41	McAlister's Deli	Sandwich	1,022	1,968	506	33	539	14
42	Del Taco	Global	974	1,639	421	171	592	1
43	Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers	Burger	925	1,898	482	33	515	59
44	Checkers/Rally's	Burger	883	1,100	546	238	784	-27
45	Church's Chicken	Chicken	803	1,009	633	156	789	-23
46	Auntie Anne's	Snack	762	769	1,187	11	1,198	19
47	Papa Murphy's	Pizza	758	667	1,119	8	1,127	-41
48	Tim Hortons	Snack	751	1,264	642	0	642	6
49	Moe's Southwest Grill	Global	731	1,226	606	6	612	-25
50	Smoothie King	Snack	722	661	1,093	59	1,152	49

About the QSR 50/

The QSR 50 is an annual ranking of limited-service restaurant companies by U.S. system-wide sales. QSR magazine collected information directly from restaurant companies from March to May 2024.

* Indicates a number estimated by QSR.

** Indicates a number estimated by Datassential. Chain operators were invited to share unit and systemwide sales figures, and Datassential supplemented those numbers with data from its analytics platforms, including and especially the Datassential Operators platform, as well as Concept Testing and Brand Performance. Publicly available brand data from securities filings, investor research, and franchise disclosures also informed Datassential estimates. Where specific chain information was not available, estimates were made based on growth rates seen in the industry overall and among similar chains.

The Contenders

From legacy chains to rising upstarts, here’s a look at 50 brands ready to break through in the coming years. All information in this chart, except for where * is indicated, was submitted directly to QSR magazine. The list was ranked by total systemwide sales from the pool of submissions.